Bioinspired Engineered Systems for Preclinical Respiratory Research

Kambez Benam, DPhil
Associate Professor
Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine
University of Pittsburgh

Abstract:  Preclinical drug development is a costly and lengthy process. Pulmonary disorders have long been negatively impacting human lives with very limited new classes of medications identified over the past few decades. In fact three out of the top five causes of death in humans are lung related. Of these, infection with pathogens, in particular respiratory viruses, is of huge concern. In addition, our society faces an unprecedented challenge in dealing with the emergence of rapidly evolving electronic cigarettes and vaping products, necessitating research into how we can better understand their biological impact to more appropriately regulate access to them. In this seminar, Dr. Benam will present biologically and clinically inspired living and non-living systems that his team have developed to model human lung pathophysiology in vitro. He will discuss Lung Small Airway-on-a-Chip technology and the ongoing project in his lab of creating a 3D-bioprinted Lung Organomimetic. Additionally, Dr. Benam will present the Human Vaping Mimetic Real-Time Particle Analyzer – a first-in-kind robotic system that quantitatively analyzes submicron and microparticles generated from e-cigarettes in real-time while mimicking clinically relevant breathing and vaping topography exactly as happens in humans.

Bio:  Dr. Benam is the founder of Lung Microengineering Lab. He received his B.Sc. (Hons.) in Pharmacology from the Newcastle University (UK) and his D.Phil. in Immunology from the University of Oxford (UK). He then was trained as a Technology Development Fellow at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. Dr. Benam was a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado prior to moving to the University of Pittsburgh in 2021 and being appointed as Associate Professor (currently under committee review). He has been the recipient of multiple awards including Society of Toxicology IRSS, Baxter and Lush Young Investigator Awards, Science2Startup Finalist, as well as Science and Innovation Center Rising Star Award and Recognition of Early Academic Achievement (REAAch) Award from the American Thoracic Society. Dr. Benam's work has received extensive press coverage (BBC, STAT News, Harvard Gazette, Washington Times, IEEE Spectrum, etc.). He has published in leading scientific journals (such as NATURE METHODS, CELL SYSTEMS, NATURE PROTOCOLS, JCI INSIGHT, NANO SELECT, and ISCIENCE by CELL PRESS) and is a co-inventor on multiple patent applications and issued patents. Dr. Benam has secured over $9.5 MILLION in extramural funding since establishing Lung Microengineering Lab in 2017.

The Benam Lab:  We apply a multidisciplinary strategy to design and develop biologically and clinically inspired technologies (such as Organs-on-Chips, Vaping Robot, and 3D-Bioprinting) that enable us to elucidate cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern tissue pathology or offer protection during lung injury. Simply put, we emulate human lung biology and function at micro- and nano-scale dimensions to tackle unmet preclinical needs in pulmonary medicine. Our research lies at the intersection of lung biology, immuno-microbiology, tissue microengineering, inhalation toxico-pathology, programming & AI, electrical & mechanical engineering, and systems biology. Ultimately, our goal is to discover novel druggable targets, develop candidate therapeutics, uncover personalized diagnostics, and accurately mimic human-relevant pathophysiology using living and non-living engineered systems.